In making the point of how much free will we don’t have, I wanted to write about a concept I came up with a few years back, something to help us understand the, well, “automaticness” of much of what goes on in our heads.Searching for something on it, I came across this chapter of yet another of my might-be books, a half-written volume titled Earthman’s Notebook.It’s fairly long, but it illustrates the ideas pretty well.I’m dividing it up, so it’s going to accordion three extra sections into … [Read more...]

You have no idea what a fanboy I am when it comes to superhero movies. At 59, I'm often the oldest person in the theater at midnight openers. (Speaking of which, the Spider-Man trailer looks suweeeet! And oh yeah, I'll be there for the midnight show.)I went to see the second coming of Ghost Rider last night, on pins and needles and eager for the flaming spectacle.But ... dayyum. Twenty minutes in, I was already thinking about walking out. Departing the theater at the end, I said "That was … [Read more...]

(Sorry, brain running on idle so far this morning. I swear the following has nothing to do with drugs. This is a sort of sideways answer to those who say you can’t prove there’s no God.)1) In Heaven, everybody has delicious Thomas’s English muffins for breakfast, and they come already toasted and slathered with real butter. Plus, they’re served by obsequious angelic beings who look exactly like Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards. … [Read more...]

Looking for reader contributions here.Say there are two or three levels of atheism – like Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, or maybe Novice, Intermediate, Advanced. Or possibly Apprentice, Journeyman, Master.And say there were some things you should probably do at each level in order to qualify – in your own mind if nowhere else.What would those things be?Here’s my tentative list for the Novice Class: … [Read more...]

Sigh.One of my good, old friends from Texas sent me an email. If you’ve ever gotten one of those multiply-forwarded Christian thingies, you know what it looks like. Letters half and inch high on my screen. Every paragraph a different color. Comic Sans typeface. Yeah, like this: … [Read more...]